Rob Engine

September training

2005-09-08T14:47:00.000-07:00

Just taking it easy - riding to and from work alternating which bike I use. Typlically, each day I ride for 01:20 and a moderate pace.

08 September

2005-09-08T14:45:00.000-07:00

Waiting to get back on track with my training. Erica is on holiday so will just ride to and from work and have some fun on the bike. Once Erica is back then the serious training resumes.

Stay in touch!

May 2005

2005-04-30T03:32:00.000-07:00

23-27 May:
Just taking it easy this week - this is actually time out. I should not be riding to work and back, but it is just easier than catching the train. Also, I am actually enjoying the laid-back and easy rides - discovering new routes.
They are 16km a day usually lasting an hour and forty minutes.

22 May:
Raced in the Divisionals - had a good race and defended the break with a team member in it nicely. With 10km to go my chain snapped and that was the end of the race.

No HR details
Time: 03:30

12 May:
Rode to work and back. 01:20 - easy. Felt a bit tired on the way home.

Did my short ints last night and was like dejavu. Seriously, it was good. I need the discipline - I thrive on it. These are the results from the session. It was hard but managable and was pretty stuffed at the end. As soon as I started the interval I hammered it (closing the break/attacking) getting around 800-878w for 30 sec and then settled at around 350-370w for the remainder of the interval - 2 minutes. These values are my PowerTap values. I am not going to use the turbo power values at all.

Short/Lactate Intervals:
Int 1 - 156/168
Int 2 - 163/176
Int 3 - 167/177
Int 4 - 169/179
Int 5 - 172/181
Int 6 - 174/183

Ave Power - 306
Max Power - 878

11 May:
Commuted to work and back.
01:20 (ave HR - 127) - felt tired in the morning.

10 May:
Did Crystal Palace last night. Rode from work to CP. Had a fairly good race and finished in 5th place. Rode home afterwards and did some FARTLEK afterwards.

6 May:
Rode to work. Felt tired and legs a bit sore. Will need to take it easy on the way home... to recover.

5 May:
Rode into work - commute day. Felt good on the bike.
Going to ride the SL handicap tonight.
Finished 4th. Time - 01:20, Max Power - 1120w, Ave Power - 320w
Good work out with a sprint finish. Rode home afterwards and pushed it quite hard.
Time: 04:20
Distance: 130km

4 May:
Commute day - hard out and easy back.

3 May:
Commute day - rode in hard and then easy on the way home.

2 May:
Chas Messenger - stage 4.
Finished 20th overall. Quite happy with the result, but still don't have the top-end I need. Will come though.

1 May:
Chas Messenger - stage 2 and 3.

May Race Programme

2005-04-30T03:30:00.000-07:00

30 - 2 May - Chas Messenger 3 day stage race
8th May - Lincoln GP (Premier)
15th May - Crawley Town Centre Crits.
22 May - Divisional RR Championship (161Km) BIG ONE - Have to win this one.
29 May - Rutland to Melton CiCLE Classic Rutland (Premier)

30 April 2005

2005-04-30T03:25:00.000-07:00

Back on the blog. Its been a while but finally logged in and starting on a clean sheet.

Chas Messenger Stage race:
Hillingdon - 64 km.
Had a good ride. Got into an early break but got dropped. I don't have the top end back yet. Finished in the bunch. Tried to conserve as much energy as possible.
Rode out to the start - 01hr 20 mins.

Race:Time: 01:30
HR: 196/179
Temp: 20degrees ave.

I had a op on Wednesday so still have some stitches in my leg. Will see how it goes today. I need to get the miles in and get strong for next weekend. The Lincoln GP. I need to be on form for that.

Sent Erica a lengthy email last night so looking forward to her feedback and a brand new programme. I need this desperatly as I need to return to focus.

28 February 2005

2005-02-28T02:26:00.000-08:00

Easy Spin

Rode to work this morning.
Nice and easy on my racing bike.
Had a good sleep last night - 11 hrs.
Very very cold this morning (-2.8 degrees), but dry.

Time: 00:40
Ave HR: 115
Dist: 16km

15 February 2005

2005-02-15T07:42:00.000-08:00

Complete rest

14 February 2005

2005-02-14T07:46:00.000-08:00

1 Hour Easy spin

AM Commute - 00:40 (125/147)
PM Commute - 00:40 (107/134)

Total - 01:20

06 February 2005

2005-02-06T13:57:00.000-08:00

6 Hrs LSD on mountain bike

Set off quite early from home. Weather started to look bad, but soon cleared up and stayed pretty mild for the rest.

Distance: > 130km
Time: 05:50
Ave HR: 121
Ascending: 1145

Felt pretty good considering I did nearly 7 hrs yesterday. Finished off at my folks house and had a recovery drink.

01 February 2005

2005-02-01T09:04:00.000-08:00

Long Intervals

On the turbo at home.

31 January 2005

2005-01-31T09:03:00.000-08:00

1 hr Easy spin

Ride to and from work.

AM - 00:44 (113/141)
PM - 00:42 (109/134)

Felt good to & from work.
Rode on mountain bike.

30 January 2005

2005-01-30T09:06:00.000-08:00

Gorrick MTB Race - Crowthorne

Had a good race. Good conditions - 8 degrees. Used my Viner and had no machincals like last week. Tyre choice a bit poor, but that's all I had.

Highlights: Beating 2 big mtb racers in area, staying with John and putting nearly 5 mins into next place guy.

Placing - 2nd (John V) Elite
Time - 01:50
Av HR - 181
Max HR - 194
Laps - 5

Good - power, speed and technical
Bad - technical (can still improve)

29 January 2005

2005-01-29T09:13:00.000-08:00

4 hours LSD

Rode down south on road bike.
Croydon, Woldingham, East Grinstead, Ashdown Forest, Forest Row and ending in Crawley.

Power range 199-266.

Ave Power - 210w
Dist - 100km
Ave HR - 130
Ave Speed - 27 km/hr
Temp - 6 ave.
Ascent - 1115m

28 January 2005

2005-01-28T09:14:00.001-08:00

1 hr easy spin

Rode to work and back on road bike

Dist - 32 km
Ave HR - 122/117
Time: 01:20

Legs a bit tired from the week.

27 January 2005

2005-01-27T09:16:00.000-08:00

Long Intervals

Time - 01:50
Av HR - 144

Warm up - 00:10 (101)
Int 1 - 155/164
Int 2 -159/165
Int 3 - 157 /164
Int 4 - 158/165
Int 5 - 158/166
Cool down - 00:05 (116)

26 January 2005

2005-01-26T09:17:00.000-08:00

Short Intervals

Did intervals on turbo at home. Very hard with great effort needed.

Ave Power - 267 w

Warm up - 00:10 (114)
Int 1 - 153/157
Int 2 - 152/161
Int 3 - 158/174
Int 4 - 162/178
Int 5 - 166/181
Int 6 - 169/183
Warm down - 00:10 (129)

25 January 2005

2005-01-25T09:19:00.000-08:00

Long Intervals

Very tough session, but felt good afterwards.

Warm up - 00:05 (121)
Int 1 - 167/181
Int 2 - 178/182
Int 3 - 176182
Int 4 - 175/183
Int 5 - 175/186
Warm down - 00:05 (131)

24 January 2005

2005-01-24T09:21:00.000-08:00

1 Hour easy spin

Had a nice and easy recovery spin to work - commuted. Caught the train home.

Ave HR - 123
Dist - 16 km
Time - 00:42

23 January 2005

2005-01-23T09:27:00.000-08:00

Thetford MTB Race
See my picture

Had a good race - flat and fast with lots of twisty single track. Had many mechanicals as I was using my DeKerf and had hardly any gears. Lost the sprint when my chain slipped and came off 20 m before the finish line. A positive start to the mtb season.

Good: Speed, and power
Bad: Technical, preparation, end speed and power

Ave HR - 178
Max HR - 194
Ascent - 205 m
Time - 01:53

22 January 2005

2005-01-22T09:30:00.000-08:00

3 hrs easy with 4 short sprints on climbs

Rode on and off road on mtb. Had a good relaxing ride over to Ranmore, Dorking, Westcott and Box hill before returning home.

Time - 03:00
Ave HR - 133

Did 4 short but fast 30 sec sprints. My legs feel a little tired.

21 January 2005

2005-01-21T09:31:00.000-08:00

2 hrs tempo

Rode to work and then then planned to do 2 hours tempo in the Park. After half of the session I turned home as I was feeling too tired and sore.

Dist - 40km
Time - 01:30
Ave HR - ??

Turned out to be a poor training session - could not get the power I needed to so called it a day.

20 January 2005

2005-01-21T02:51:00.000-08:00

SHORT Interval

Found the session very difficult. My HR was very high.

Warm up - 00:20 (104)
Int 1 - 166/176
Int 2 - 167/182
Int 3 - 167/179
Int 4 - 166/182
Int 5 - 168/182
Int 6 - 169/184
Warm down - 00:05 (129)

Ave Cad - 92

19 January 2005

2005-01-19T14:20:00.000-08:00

Long Intervals

Warm up - 00:06 (101)
Int 1 - 162/176
Int 2 - 173/181
Int 3 - 172/182
Int 4 - 169/183
Int 5 - 171/184
Warm down - 00:05 (134)

Very tough and very long. My HR high??? Erica might need to check this?

18 January 2005

2005-01-18T13:13:00.000-08:00

40 Km Time Trial - indoors

Rode back from work. Set up turbo for the test.

Gradient - 0
Distance - 49 km

Results:
Time - 00:45:43
HR - 170/188
Ave Power - 409
Cadence Ave - 94

Felt very tired befor the test so wasn't expecting a great result. Also, lots of negative things on my mind which is bothering me. The main bother is my continual hunger - always want to eat. So during the test my gut was full and bloated. Need to get this sorted.

17 January 2005

2005-01-17T14:25:00.000-08:00

1 hr easy spin

Rode to and from work - commute

Dist - 32 km
Time - 2 x 00:42 mins
Ave HR - 110

Felt good

16 January 2005

2005-01-16T14:27:00.000-08:00

4 hrs tempo with climbs road

Dist - 116.2 km
Time - 04:00
Ave speed - 29.3 km/hr
Ave HR - 147
Ascent - 1425m
Ave Power - 257w

Had a good ride through the Surrey hills on road bike.

15 January 2005

2005-01-15T14:29:00.000-08:00

4 hrs MTB tempo

Time - 04:28
Ave HR - 142

Went off road around Leith Hill with the Nirvana guys. Rode with John for some pictures for the SA magazine. Had a good day on the hills, but very muddy. Rode on my DeKerf with no gears

14 January 2005

2005-01-14T14:32:00.000-08:00

2 hrs tempo

Dist - 60.4 km
Time - 02:00
Ave speed - 29.3 km/hr
Ave HR - 153
Ave Power - 257 w

Did my training in the morning. Cold and a bit dangerous. At least the session was over and done with.

13 January 2005

2005-01-13T03:03:00.000-08:00

1 hour easy spin

Rode to work in the morning on my mountain bike - nice and easy - just spinning my legs

Time - 00:45 (113/141)
Dist - 16 km

12 January 2005

2005-01-12T03:05:00.000-08:00

1 hour easy spin/Rest

Rode to and from work at an easy pace.

Time - 40 mins x 2 = 01:20
Dist - 30 km
HR - 115

Diet - had a great day with food until I got home. Didn't go too over board, but did not have some nice salad - had toast and fish. Suppose this isn't too bad... except I had a packet of sweets.

11 January 2005

2005-01-11T09:23:00.000-08:00

2 hrs TEMPO

Had a good night sleep - 7 hrs. Raining and a little cold here.

am - did an hours easy spin on the mountain bike. Felt much better. Kept the HR under 125bpm.

pm - Tempo ride around Richmond Park.

10 January 2005

2005-01-10T06:41:00.000-08:00

2 hrs tempo -> Easy 1 hr spin.

Although this is planned my legs are finished and I am very tired. So have decided to swap the session with tomorrows. So I'll ride 1 hour easy spin today and do 2 hrs tempo tomorrow.

Sleep - 8.5 hrs

No ride d/t a family duty. Plan to do a spin in the morning.

09 January 2005

2005-01-09T03:02:00.000-08:00

5 hrs FG hilly with climbs

Plan to meet with the team in Farnborough for a 4 hr. Will ride out there and meet them.

Rode out to Farnborough and met the team. Quite strong winds so going was tough. Did 4 hours with team through the country lanes. Great scenery and tough head-winds. Really enjoyable and great to be out with the whole team.

Time - 06:22
HR - 139/179
Dist - 188.3 km
Ave Speed - 30.2
Temp - 9
Ascent - 1160 m
Cals burnt - 5211

Felt great during the ride, but overshot the time planned. Tried to get a train home but the trains were out of service. Just slogged home. Had my recovery drink when I got home, shower and self massage.

08 January 2005

2005-01-08T03:00:00.000-08:00

5 hrs Tempo with climbs

Plan to meet with Jason for a mt bike ride with the Leith Hill gang.

Rode out to Camberley. Did a couple of hours off road on single track with Jay. Feeling good and strong. Had strong headwinds going out. And, great tail winds coming home.

Time - 05:09
HR - 152/189

07 January 2005

2005-01-07T02:45:00.000-08:00

Hill Sprints #2

Plan to do the hill sprint intervals in Wimbledon on my way home.

Some questions about my training - Open

2005-01-06T05:50:00.000-08:00

1. Pre-season macro plan. What is it? What are we aiming for and what are the plans before the Cape Epic. I need a clear mental picture.

2. Pre-Epic races. What races are we planning to do? I would like to do the Theford MTB Marathon (23rd of January), the Perfs Pedal Road Race - big one (13 February). I guess that these races are good for preparation.

3. Intervals un-covered. What are the purposes of VO2, LT and Anaerobic intervals.

06 January 2005

2005-01-06T04:58:00.000-08:00

LT Intervals (postponed from yesterday)

Got a good 8 hours sleep. Rode into work on my mt bike - taking it nice and easy.
Feeling a bit frustrated that the team stuff has not been sorted out yet... we need to get this sorted as soon as possible.

On my way home had a struggle with general well-being - still feeling a bit frustrated with the distruptions at home and with training from yesterday.

Ended up finishing the intervals at 22:30. A bit too late.

Result:
Time - 01:34 (155/183)

Intervals
Warm up - 00:08 (95)
Int 1 - 164/174
Int 2 - 171/180
Int 3 - 174/181
Int 4 - 175/182
Int 5 - 176/183
Cool down - 00:07 (130)

05 January 2005

2005-01-05T08:52:00.000-08:00

LT Intervals #2

Due to some personal issues at home and a massage training session with Bridge and Stu I have opted to postpone this session till tomorrow.

Result:
Time: 01:34
Ave HR: 110
Commuted on mt bike taking it easy and

04 January 2005

2005-01-04T08:37:00.000-08:00

VO2 Intervals #2

The first 3 intervals felt very hard. Was only able to get up to 350 watts. I think this was the static trainer playing up? Then it got a bit easier... and got to 400w with allot of effort. Did a short cool down as I was pretty knackred.

Result:
Time: 00:34
Ave HR: 129
Max HR: 182
Turbo session

Intervals
Warmup: 20 mins (95)
Int 1: 150/160
Int 2: 141/160
Int 3: 146/163
Int 4: 152/176
Int 5: 158/179
Int 6: 159/181
Cool down: 10 min (107)

03 January 2005

2005-01-03T08:31:00.000-08:00

1 hr easy spin

Result:
Time: 01:40
Ave HR: 110

02 January 2005

2005-01-02T08:24:00.000-08:00

5 hrs tempo with climbs

Left early in the morning and met up with Stu. Lovely day, but cold. felt good all day and managed to stay well within the limits.

Result:
Time: 05:00
Ave HR: 151
Max HR: 171
Dist: 138 km
Ave Speed: 28.2
Temp: 5
Ascent: 1350m

01 January 2005

2005-01-01T01:16:00.000-08:00

Off or 2 hours tempo

Did 2 hours tempo in Richmond Park. Managed to do 5 laps around the parFelt good, but it was very cold.

Result:
02:10
Ave HR: 152
Max HR: 177
Dist: 65.3 km
Ave Speed: 30.3km/hr
Temp: 1o

31 December 2004

2004-12-31T09:07:00.000-08:00

1 hr easy spin

Did an hour easy spin on my rollers. Legs felt fine.

30 December 2004

2004-12-30T09:10:00.000-08:00

Anaerobics Intervals #1

Did 2 sets of 6 intervals . Went ok, but my power output (PT) seemed to be a bit low (420w) so I went to 445w (ave) for the 30sec interval. The cadence stayed around 105 rpm with my HR peaking at 170 bpm. I am not sure that this is what the aim of the interval is? Anaerobic maybe?

Intervals
Warm up - 11 mins (109)
Set 1:
Int 1 - 146/158
Int 2 - 143/159
Int 3 - 143/158
Int 4 - 144/157
Int 5 - 139/156
Int 6 - 145/158

Set 2:
Int 1 - 133/155
Int 2 - 140/159
Int 3 - 137/158
Int 4 - 140/157
Int 5 - 140/158
Int 6 - 144/160

Cool Down - 10mins (119)

29 December 2004

2004-12-29T09:19:00.000-08:00

LT Intervals #2
5x1x12 minutes @300w

Time - 01:37 plus 01:20 commute (easy spin)
Power - max = 543, ave = 361
Speed - ave = 35.5
Cadence - ave = 82
Distance - 58km

Intervals
Warm up - 6mins (95)
Int 1 - 164/172
Int 2 - 170/179
Int3 - 173/181
Int 4 - 175/182
Int 5 - 178/184
Cool Down - 15 mins (126)

28 December 2004

2004-12-28T09:21:00.000-08:00

VO2 Intervals

Time = 01:00 (134/188)
Ave Power = 285w
Max Power = 660w (using the PT indoors)
Ave Cadence = 85
Distance = 35km

Intervals
Warm up - 20min (113)
Int 1 - 157/176
Int 2 - 161/181
Int 3 - 163/182
Int 4 - 165/184
Int 5 - 167/186
Int 6 - 168/188

Cool Down - 20 mins (125)

27 December 2004

2004-12-27T09:23:00.000-08:00

1 hr easy spin

Did an easy spin indoors on my rollers

Time - 01:00 (119)
Dist - 30km
Ave speed - 30.9

26 December 2004

2004-12-26T09:24:00.000-08:00

2 hrs tempo

Tempo between 270 - 320 watts in the Park

Time - 02:03 (147/182)
Dist - 58km
Ave speed - 29.6
Temp - ave 2 degrees (min 0 degrees)

13 December 2004

2004-12-13T09:36:00.000-08:00

1 hr easy spin

Went to CycleFit to get measured up. All seems ok, however there were just a few minor adjustments including moving the saddle forward and cleats - left leg shorter than right. Had some inserts made and plates under my cleats. Changed the pedal system to Shimano SPR-SL.

Time - 02:54 (longer than planned - fitment - went easy)
Ave Power - 179w
Dist - 73km
Ave HR - 115